PORT ORCHARD — The A&W on Mile Hill closed for business Thursday, according to former owner Rick Gehring who sold the decades-old business in 2015.

Sidharth "Sid" Sethi of Woodinville and his father Amit Sethi took over the A&W franchise that the Gehring family had operated since 1959 vowing not to make any big changes. Only the name changed as Buck's A&W, named for Gehring's dad, became Port Orchard A&W. Sports trophies, pennants and team photos from years past still decorate the walls. Longtime staff members were retained.

On Friday, the doors were locked, the restaurant dark.

Sid Sethi did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Gehring, who owns the property and leased to the Sethis, said the A&W corporate office confirmed to him the franchise has been terminated.

Gehring had heard the restaurant was struggling financially. "I know that their volume was not at the same level as when Karin (his wife) and I turned it over to them two years ago," he said. "There's all kinds of reasons things go sideways. This one, he wasn't an onsite manager."

Sid Sethi was 21 and an undergrad at the University of Washington wrapping up dual degrees in marketing and business management when he took on the A&W in Port Orchard. The family has owned other restaurants, including the 125th Grill in Seattle. Sethi at the time said he had been making a couple of trips a week to Port Orchard. He praised the senior management and said he'd be counting on their institutional knowledge.

“I was welcomed in with both hands,” Sethi said in 2015. “They’re genuine, big-hearted people over there. They work together as a family. It’s more of a family than a business.”

Gehring said he met Thursday with staff members who only recently learned they'd be out of a job. "Obviously we feel terrible for the current employees that the rug's kind of pulled out from under them," Gehring said.

The Gehrings are trying to find someone to lease the restaurant either as an A&W franchise, another franchise or an independent restaurant. Ideally, they'd like to sell the property but are open to continuing the lease. Rick Gehring said he's already had a few inquiries, as word of the A&W's closure got out.

Dear as the memory of Buck's A&W is in the community, the Gehrings have no plans to jump back in the business. "It's been a good run, but at a certain point, you don't have the enthusiasm and energy to do your best. Right now, we need someone else who can do that," Gehring said. "The creme de la creme would be finding that unique individual who would grow that tradition ... or make their own."

Buck's A&W nearly folded in 2008 but hung on. The Gehrings faced bankruptcy due to a lawsuit in which a former manager was accused of sexual harassment. Rick and Karin Gehring were absolved from personal responsibility in the case, but the jury penalized Buck's of Port Orchard Inc. for sexual discrimination. The court ordered they pay the plaintiff's attorney's fees, which totaled more than $600,000. A compromise settlement was reached, however, that allowed the business to remain open. Community fundraising helped pay the Gehrings' legal fees.